Is Godot any good for 3D games?

The open-source video game engine Godot has seen its popularity increase noticeably in the last week in light of the recent and unfortunate events with Unity's new pricing system. Thanks to this, both professionals in the sector and hobbyists have approached the engine and have been able to test it first-hand, they have been able to review its source code and reasonable doubts have begun to arise about the 3D capabilities offered by this engine. By doing a simple search on YouTube we can see examples of Godot's 3D management, for example in this video by devmar we can see a sample of the game that this developer is creating called "Penitent". In it we can see the fight between the main character and a monster of massive dimensions. In my opinion, the atmosphere that this developer has been able to create, along with the fog and light effects, is quite impressive. The visual quality that you can see here is due in part to the technical improvement that Godot has experienced from version 3 to version 4. In this GDQuest video we can see a visual demonstration of the new lighting management that Godot 4 incorporates, specifically its new system of global illumination. Here we can observe this new lighting system in real time with reflections and the bouncing of light on the surfaces. Of course, if we talk about real-time lighting, I think that Lumen comes to mind, one of the great things that Epic incorporated in Unreal Engine 5 and that left us all with our jaws dropped when we saw the enormously detailed graphics that this system of lighting brings. And speaking of Unreal Engine, one of the most established consensuses within the video game development community is that Unreal Engine is without a doubt the place to go if what you are looking for is great graphical fidelity and a professional finish for your game, and I couldn't agree more. The level of absurd detail and performance that Unreal Engine brings to the table is unmatched and nothing comes close. As I see it Godot does not replace, nor does it seek to replace this profile of game projects. In this Reddit thread we can see a former member of the Godot community making a series of criticisms of the engine. This user highlights a general lack of performance in terms of 3D graphics management for large games, going so far as to call it "built by hobbyists, for hobbyists." In addition, this user also makes some "observations" about the project management and its attitude. I personally don't know if what is being said here is true or not, but in any case it is a reading that I recommend you do to obtain a critical perspective on the state of the engine. Of course creating a complete video game is not the same as creating a tech demo. For example, in this demo by picster we can see a scene of a mountainous cavity made in Godot 4 with beautiful light effects. By the way, you can find the link to the full videos and materials that I am showing in the description of this video. The question is, would it be possible to replicate this level of detail at scale, with larger worlds while all of the game's gameplay runs smoothly for the player? In this other demo by Perfoon we can see a scene with a hangar and an abandoned ship in the middle of the forest. The level of graphic detail, the lighting effects and the environmental particles give the scene a very interesting and realistic tone. Without a doubt a good example of the graphical finish that Godot 4 can achieve. But as I've said before, it would be nice to see this level of detail in a complete finished game. In this article called "Godot is not the new Unity" we can see how the author mentions the problems that he has seen between the engine code and the gameplay code. In this case, it seems that he is already in contact with the Godot development team and it seems that there has been good synergy and that at least part of the issues that he has seen seems to have been taken into account to be resolved at some point. This is a good example of constructive criticism that I hope will end up resulting in the resolution of these problems and the improvement of the final finish of the engine. The conclusion I draw from all this is that of course Godot may not yet be at the level of graphical detail and performance necessary to be a prominent contender in the triple A video game industry, however it is making steps in that direction. Today, and despite all the limitations it may have, we can already see and enjoy commercial indie games, many of them in 2D made in Godot. Personally, all the projects I have done are in two dimensions, and I think that Godot can be a good choice for this kind of games. Of course each developer has to carry out their own research and make an informed decision about the scope of their project and choose the engine that best suits them. Thank you for watching this video until the end, you have the links to the videos and articles that I mention in the video description. If you liked this video, I ask you to leave me a like and subscribe if you are interested in seeing more content like this. Thank you again and I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day. Goodbye.

Channel: David Serrano

Views: 69,149

Keywords: godot, godou, godot 3d, godot engine 3d, godot 4 3d, godot 3d games, godot for 3d, 3d godot, 3d godot games, godot for 3d games, good for 3d, is godot good, godot good for, godot 3d rendering, godot 3d performance, godot 3d physics, godot 3d shaders, godot vulkan 3d, godot 3d capabilities, godot 3d environments, godot real-time 3d, godot 3d open world, godot open world

Id: 4pAPZAz7IMQ

Length: 5min 29sec (329 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 22 2023